In a game in which the unbeaten Monarchs were outgained almost 2-to-1 by a team that had one player throw for more than 200 yards and another run for more than 100, Northside still found a way to win, defeating North Pitt 41-28 in the second round of the NCHSAA 2-AA playoffs.

“Our guys showed a lot of resolve and heart,” Northside coach Bob Eason said. “We didn’t never give up. Maybe this game in the playoffs gets us going to the next level (and) makes us practice a little harder net week.”

The top-seeded Monarchs (13-0) will play host to No. 5 seed Bunn (10-2) next Friday night in the East Regional semifinals, the deepest Northside has advanced since making it to the regional finals four straight years from 2005-2008.

Bunn beat SouthWest Edgecombe 31-14 Friday night.

“It was a good test,” said running back Dewayne Johnson, who rushed for 96 yards and scored on runs of 20 and 9 yards while also delivering a number of numbing hits on defense. “I’d say this is probably the hardest team we’ve played this year.”

The eighth-seeded Panthers, who finish 8-5 (all five losses were teams that advanced to at least the second round of the playoffs), scored the most points against the Monarchs this year, eclipsing the 21 Northside allowed in a 13-point win at Wilson Fike on Sept. 7.

North Pitt also saw 6-foot-5, 190-pound senior quarterback Christopher Perry complete 15 of 29 passes for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions. And junior running back Brian Staton rushed for 140 yards for North Pitt, which finished with 446 yards total offense to 231 yards for Northside.

“We have a good team, if we can just get out of our way,” North Pitt coach David Boal said, pointing to not only turnovers but 95 yards in penalties, including two instances where his team was called for a 15-yard personal foul and 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on the same play. “We just had mistakes and blunders.

“They never had to drive the football. The first drive they took down the field, but just…,” he said before pausing. “They’re a good team. They capitalized on our mistakes. That’s what I feel happened.”

The Monarchs certainly did that. After driving 58 yards with their first possession for a 7-0 lead on Blair Adams’ 1-yard run, the Monarchs scored on drives of 22, 20, 9 and 28 yards along with a 64-yard punt return by Josh Cabrera.

That return came in a key 14-point surge by the Monarchs in the final seconds of the first half. After North Pitt missed a wide open receiver on a reverse pass on third-and-15, the Panthers had to punt, and after hauling it in Cabrera started right and then broke back left and raced into the end zone to give Northside a 14-7 lead with 20.6 seconds left.

On the ensuing kickoff Trey Eason hit a pop-up pooch kick that Andy Davis somehow recovered after it appeared the Panthers had fallen on the ball at their 22. Cabrera found the end zone again, using his 6-foot-3 frame and athletic ability to leap over 5-7 Monte Foreman for a 22-yard touchdown pass from Courtney Piatt with 11.9 seconds left.

Suddenly, it was 21-7 Northside at the half.

“That was huge,” coach Eason said. “I think the game’s different. If we don’t go up, they don’t do all the stuff they did to score so it’s a lower scoring game.”

Boal wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

“Thinking back, I still don’t know what happened,” he said. “No. 1, I thought our kid was down with the ball (on the kickoff) and it should have been down and they come and jump under it. I don’t know what happened…. But if we come out of there 14-7 or 7-7 who knows what’s going to happen.”

Still, the game wasn’t over.

After North Pitt closed within 21-14 on a 21-yard pass from Perry to Chris Parrish on its opening second-half possession, Northside got the ball at the Panthers 20 thanks to a 35-yard kickoff return by Shadell Markee and 30 yards in penalties on a face mask and unsportsmanlike penalty. Johnson then burst up the middle on Northside’s first play from scrimmage in the second half to make it 27-14.

The Monarchs made it 35-14 after a 34-yard interception return by Cabrera on a 9-yard TD run by Johnson — after North Pitt’s Jamal Shaw dropped a sure interception in the end zone one play earlier.

“As a whole offensive unit, I was standing there and I told the offensive line we needed to step it up and put some points on the board,” Johnson said.

But the Panthers made it interesting, pulling within 35-28 with 10:45 left in the game on touchdown passes of 39 and 88 yards from Perry to Davion Council. But Northside’s defense, which had not been shredded like this all season, stood tall down the stretch, holding the Panthers to just two first downs and no points.

Meanwhile, Northside clinched the win when Trey Eason bulled around left end for an 11-yard run on third-and-1 with 1:05 left in the game.

While his defense gave up more points and likely more yards than any game this season, and his usually overwhelming running game managed just 133 yards on the round, Eason was still happy for one reason: The Monarchs won.

“During the playoffs, these kind of wins are OK,” he said. “During regular season when you’re still trying to tweak some stuff, you get a little upset. But right now I’m just happy to practicing next week.

“(The Panthers) have a good team, and they put it on all on the line. I think they probably played their best game against us tonight. It was good to take what I consider probably their best shot and keep playing.”